SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick thinks County Executive Joanie Mahoney would make a great lieutenant governor.

But Fitzpatrick is not interested in the job. The prosecutor answered a wide range of questions from readers and reporters on syracuse.com earlier today. Here are some excerpts:
Politics:
Q: Now that Lt. Gov. Duffy has announced he won't run for re-election, do you think Gov. (Andrew) Cuomo will ask Joanie Mahoney to run as his lieutenant governor?

Fitzpatrick: She'd be a great choice, but I hope she stays as our county executive. How come nobody wonders if I'm going to run, or if I'm going to be asked?

Q: Do you have any interest in pursuing the newly vacant Lt. Governor position? Do you have political aspirations outside of your present office?

Fitzpatrick: Being Lt. Governor in New York is kind of like being a baby changing station in a Hooter's Men's Room. It's very useful, but you just don't get a lot of work. In terms of other office, I have been asked, and my reply has been consistent for the last 20 years, which is, I have the greatest job in the world, so why would I leave?

Q (from me): You've developed a good working relationship with Gov. Cuomo during his first term. Will you endorse him this fall?

Fitzpatrick: Teri, you should know, that as I explained earlier, DA's cannot endorse candidates. But you are right, I do have a good relationship with the governor and think highly of him.

By the way, Duffy responded with this tweet this afternoon:

@TeriKWeaver
Teri:
It is hard to respond to Bill Fitzpatrick's quote as I have never been inside of a Hooters Restaurant. (LOL)

Moreland Commission
Q: I'd be curious to know if the DA thinks that any of the commission's files will lead the feds to investigate (Assembly Speaker) Sheldon Silver or Cuomo.

Fitzpatrick: We turned over about two dozen potential investigations to the U.S. Attorney. None of them involved the speaker directly, and none of them involved the governor. I'd still like to know what the speaker does for his $400,000 retainer.

Q: Mr. Fitzpatrick, I've read that the U.S. attorney subpoenaed your phone records and the phone records of other Moreland Commission members to see if the governor or his staff exerted influence over what the commission investigated. Is that true? Have you turned over your phone records?

Fitzpatrick: I've been in contact with the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District as recently as this morning. Their plan is to, as the New York Times reported, to subpoena various documents. I will turn over all my records, regardless of whether or not I receive a subpoena.

Q: What will Mr. (Preet) Bharara learn from subpoenaing the Moreland Commission that he doesn't already have access to from the cases handed over to him and other prosecutors throughout the state?

Fitzpatrick: The U.S. Attorney has publicly stated he is not only investigating potential criminal charges against legislators, but he has expanded his inquiry to determine if political pressure was exerted on the Moreland Commission and its staff.

Q: If it was up to you, would the Moreland Commission have continued to investigate public corruption in NY? Did you argue at all with the governor over his decision to shut down the commission?

Fitzpatrick: I did not argue with him about that issue. I understand his reasoning. I'm hopeful that whomever he appoints to head the Board of Elections enforcement wing will in effect be a new "Moreland Commission."

Fitzpatrick: Myself and co-chair Milt Williams were contemplating sending the files to state prosecutors. After Milt and I talked, we decided the best forum would be Preet in the Southern District, and it may turn out that the U.S. Attorney will refer those cases to other state and federal prosecutors as he sees fit.

Q: Does Bharara have the authority to investigate the Governor and his office with meddling with the commissions ongoing investigation? As per reports, did any of Cuomo's aides interfere with who to send a subpoena to?

Fitzpatrick: In terms of authority, I obviously defer to the U.S. Attorney on that. In terms of interference, nobody interfered with my ability to do my job as co-chair.

Q: What did the grand jury subpoena ask for specifically?

Fitzpatrick: I actually haven't read the grand jury subpoena, because it technically has not be served on me individually. My attitude is that I'm going to just voluntarily provide everything I have to the U.S. Attorney.

Q: Did Silver have an input in ending the Moreland Commission?

Fitzpatrick: None to my knowledge, other than the fact that the governor has publicly indicated he got what he wanted legislatively and Silver had to agree with that.

Q: Did the governor or his staff edit the Moreland Commission's report before it was published?

Fitzpatrick: The bulk of the report, which I think was excellent, was written Danya Perry, who is just an outstanding attorney. All kinds of people on the Moreland staff had input in the final report, but ultimately, it had to be approved by the 25 commissioners, myself included.

NY Safe Act
Q: What are your dislikes about the NY Safe act?

Fitzpatrick: The seven-shot maximum capacity clip. In my opinion, that is unconstitutional. Military weapons should not be in the hands of civilians, which has been the law in this country for over 100 years. Certain other aspects of the SAFE act need to be revisited.

Q: Do you agree that we need to loosen up the gun laws in NY?

Fitzpatrick: No. Gun violence is, frankly, the No. 1 public health issue affecting minority residents in this city and the last thing we would need to do would be "loosen up" gun laws. However, I would refer you to my earlier comments regarding the SAFE Act.